Above her closet, a mini-loft

Sunset, March, 1984

Above her closet, a mini-loft

Two barrel-vaulted light scoops added to the roof of architect Mark Hajjar's Orinda, California, house do more than bring light into the north-facing side of a bedroom wing. They also serve as private study lofts that expand his two daughters' small rooms.

Each mini-loft is the size of a 4- by 8-foot sheet of plywood and sits on 2-by-6 joists on top of a 30-inch-deep closet. A ladder mounted to the closet's end wall provides access to the bright space.

To create the 6- by 12-foot openings in the flat roof, Hajjar cut through the overhead beams and 2-by-6 decking, then added load-bearing beams across the 12-foot-wide rooms. The scoops have pitched roofs capped by 4-foot-wide barrel vaults framed with plywood ribs. Ribbed metal roofing wraps over layers of hardboard and right foam insulation.

Photo: Rooftop view of light scoop shows vaulted center section, room-venting windows

Photo: Loft cantilevers 18 inches past closet. Ladder has 2-by-4 rails, dowel rungs